The iPod Challenge
by Dakota Riley
Summary: I didn't expect this to be so difficult.  Eliot from Leverage.  A little Hardison friendship, a pinch of Parker romance, and just a dash of Nate the father figure.  T for language.


**Rules:**

**1. Pick a character, fandom, pairing, friendship, whatever.**

**2. Put iTunes or your music program on shuffle and start playing songs.**

**3. For each song, write something inspired by the song related to the theme you chose earlier. You only have the song length. No pre-planning and no writing after the song is over. No skipping songs either.**

**4. Do this for ten songs**

Leverage / Eliot. Should be intense. ;D

**1. Dare4Disance - NeverShoutNever!**

Okay, so, he got it. Don't wander off. But how boring was that?

He sighed softly and waited until everyone had left, going off to their own little corners to waste the night away. Tomorrow they had a big heist. Really big. But Eliot was getting a bit restless. He stood and walked to the door, flicking off the lights as he passed through the frame. Suddenly, a voice sounded behind him.

"Hey, man! It's dark!"

Eliot blinked and backed into the room. "Hardison?

"No, it's the Tooth Fairy."

"Sorry." He turned to walk out again when he heard footsteps and a firm hard gripped his arm.

"Nate said not to leave."

"I'm not leaving, just… Going on a little trip." He smirked.

Hardison sighed and let him go.

(Bad starting point.)

**2. Shut Up And Drive - Rihanna**

"DRIVE," screamed Hardison, sliding into the passenger seat.

"What the hell, man?" Asked Eliot, putting an Icee into a cup holder. He glanced up to see several very angry employees running out of Radio Shack. "Hardison, what the hell did you do!"

Hardison sat with a large box full of expensive electronics. Eliot sighed heavily an started his truck, stepping on the gas. He sped his way out of the parking lot and heard sirens in the distance. He scowled at his friend, making his way around a sharp turn. "Hardison, if I wreck this truck…"

"You won't crash, just shut up and DRIVE."

Eliot growled.

(I tried to make it funny. Success?)

**3. The Futile - Say Anything**

"Shit."

Eliot was not having a good day. At all. Parker was whining about something or other and irritating the hell out of him. Hardison was busy babbling about some new, shiny gadget he got his hands on. Nate was drunk out of his gourd. Sophie was busy trying to subdue Parker while leading Nate up to his room.

Some times - well, most of the time - Eliot felt like the only sane one in their little group.

He stood and marched home, sitting at his table with candle light, lamenting his involvement with his team but knowing that he would be lost if he up and left. They were family, even if trying to have a normal day with them was a futile effort.

(lolwut?)

**4. Bruises and Bitemarks - Good with Grenades**

(Wow, does this scream Eliot, or what? Too bad it's a sexual sort of thing. xD)

Everyone knew that Eliot was a physical person. His job as Hitter gave that away quickly enough.

And most people knew that he had a way of flirting with the ladies.

People know that he liked girls, rather than men and people knew that he could have his way with a woman if he really wanted to.

But what most people didn't know that he wasn't a big fan of sex. He was a man, of course, and he had his needs, but he didn't do out of his way to seduce a woman.

He played off that he didn't want to get the into a relationship, but really he was afraid of hurting a woman. He could be brutal when he wanted to. If he were too hurt a woman, not just hurt her but HURT her, he would never forgive himself.

(Okay, this was a fail.)

**5. Who Knows - Avril Lavigne**

(Holy shit, I'm screwed.)

Eliot sat alone with Parker. It was late at night and everyone else had retired for the night. Everything was dark and several empty bottles sat before Eliot. Before Parker? An empty bowl of pretzels.

"Tell me, Parker… What do you do when it's the middle of the night and you're drunk out of your mind?"

"Talk to Nate or Sophie or Hardison or you. Most of the time you. Then again, I don't drink…"

Eliot cracked a small smile. "And what happens when you talk to them. Or me."

"Who knows? Sometimes one thing and sometimes something else. Most of the time, though, they help me learn something about myself." Parker shrugged. "It depends on what you want to happen, so just try."

Eliot chuckled softly. "I'll do my best, Parker, I will." With that, he stood, hugged her, and headed for home.

(Okay, this was a hard song to work with. Also, Eliot was drunk so that it my excuse for it not making sense.)

**6. I Do (Wanna Love You) - Hedley**

"Stop holding back."

"I have to."

"No you don't."

"You don't understand. I can't… If I do, I'll let you down."

"Nonsense, Eliot. It doesn't matter. Open up already! I'm here, practically on my knees!"

"I know. I want to try. I want to, believe me. I'm so used to being tired and bloody and beaten up and fighting. This is so… Different. I'm not used to this whole opening up thing. I'm not used to people wanting me like this."

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

Eliot sighed. "I'm sorry. I just can't. But I do want to love, I really do. I want to try. I just can't." He stood and walked away, leaving a lone figure to fend off the tears the welled in their lonely eyes.

(I totally set it up for a relationship with anyone there. You're welcome.)

**7. Last Resort - Papa Roach**

"I can't do it! I give up! No more, not me. No more Eliot the Hitter. I'm sick of this, Nate! I can't do it! I just get hurt and I try to protect you guys, but I can't. I'm loosing my mind! All of you just get hurt because I can't be there to protect all of you! I'm spread too thin and I'm going to snap soon. I'm loosing it. And it's just-"

"Eliot."

"Hold on, Nate. I'm on a roll."

"Eliot."

"WHAT!"

"You're fine."

Eliot stood still. He blinked. "What?"

"You're fine. We are all fine. Everyone is safe and it's all thanks to you."

"…Thanks to me?"

"Yes."

"…But you-"

"Thank you, Eliot."

"You're welcome. I mean- Wait!"

But Nate was already gone. Eliot sighed. "Damnit."

(Silly Nate. Using your fail mind tricks.)

**8. Face Down - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus**

Eliot's life was just one giant face down after another. It didn't matter what he did. He was always fighting. Always. He fought to be the first one to the bar in the morning. He fought to be the one the girl loved. He fought the people that attacked his family of sorts. He fought to be the one that was always right.

But this was a different sort of fight. A strange, confusing sort of fight.

He watched as Hardison walked away, leaving a silent Parker in his wake. He stood and turned, tears welling in her eyes. He had seen it a hundred times before. Hardison didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything, leaving Parker alone. As she tried to scurry past, Eliot extended and arm and pulled her into a tight hug. Pressing her face to his chest, she sighed.

"I've had enough."

(Who said that? I don't even know.)

**9. Pictures of You - The Last Goodnight**

Nate - the mastermind. He was a living genius and the master of them all. He was a kind and gentle soul, very fatherly to the whole group. They loved him in an odd way and he loved them. He was their support.

Sophie - the grifter. She was the mother in their family. She loved them and tended to them all in her own special way. She was their affection.

Parker - the thief. She was like an angel sent from hell. She was the annoying little sister that you can't help but love. She was their laughter.

Harrison - the geek. He was like a little brother that you can't get rid of but wouldn't want to anyway. He was a genius at what he did and they needed him. He was their spy.

And him? He was Eliot, the hitter. He loved them all and he protected them with all this might. He would die without them, even if he didn't want to admit it.

He smiled as he tucked the last picture into the book, sliding it away to be hidden, knowing that Hardion would laugh and call him a sap, Parker would probably get really curious and just want to see, Sophie would get all emotion and Nate would just smile, put a hand on his shoulder, and walk away.

(I tried to make this sound like an Eliot with Nate as the father figure story. XD)

(Oh, man! Last one!)

**Family of Me - Ben Folds**

He had always had his family of himself. He didn't need anyone else and he'd lived and worked alone for years. And then he got caught up in all this mess. He got sucked into this little team and he'd hated it!

At first, at least. And they started growing on him like a little rash that just kept spreading.

And suddenly, he knew that he couldn't live with out them. He denied it; threatened to leave. But he needed them. He knew that he would never be able to work alone again.

* * *

><p><strong>So lame. I had a perfect to song to close with and I blew it. Ah well.<strong>

**This was fun! Really (really, really, really fucking) hard, but fun. I'll totally do this more with other fandoms/characters. Be prepared.**


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